Our Institute Cares About Students
Our Educating for Peace program began in 2001 with the 10,000 student Dalai Lama Youth Summit and we have been working in the schools since then.
Each year the Spirit of Unity Award — which originated with Harold Schnitzer, one of Oregon’s foremost humanitarians — is given to Elementary, Middle & High School Peace, Human Rights, and Conflict Resolution Clubs at Oregon schools and community colleges for the outstanding work of their students in initiating peace and service projects in their schools and their communities — to make our world both a safer and a better place for all.
All students who apply to the Wholistic Peace Institute and are selected to receive this award are invited to attend a ceremony where they have an opportunity to present their peace project idea and to receive their school’s prize and certificate from a Nobel Peace Laureate. However, any student is welcome to attend this ceremony and meet a Nobel Peace Laureate.
Thousands of educators and students have benefited from this prize. Most of the over 150 schools continue their successful activities that help to cultivate a culture of peace because of the Institute’s work with the Spirit of Unity program. See the listing of winning schools and the projects or clubs which they are pursuing in Oregon.
To Help Ongoing or Future Student Activities In These Areas:
- Using Non-violent Means to Restore Justice – Civil Rights Movement (Martin Luther King, John Lewis, Andrew J. Young)
- Nobel Peace Laureates as Leadership Models
- Conflict Resolution or Peer Mediation
- Understanding Racism and White Fragility
- Promoting Universal Human Rights and Civil Rights
- Taking Steps to Reduce School Violence
- New ideas for social justice, that increase peace of mind and mental health, or that embrace diversity and inclusion
Educating for Peace, the Wholistic Peace Institute is offering the Harold Schnitzer Spirit of Unity Awards for the 17th consecutive year through a grant provided by Jordan, Harold & Arlene Schnitzer to our Student Peace Education & Leadership Program.
Applications for student peace projects that focus on ways to “stop the killing” and embrace peace or Nobel Peace winners as leadership models (e.g., Muhammad Yunus, Elie Wiesel, Shimon Peres, President Obama, Mother Teresa, President Jimmy Carter, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Physicians for Social Responsibility, Amnesty International, International Red Cross) are welcome.
Past winners of this award include projects on stopping human trafficking, climate action, student peer mediation or peace advocacy, humanitarian service projects local or abroad. New ideas for social justice, that increase peace of mind and mental health, or that embrace diversity and inclusion are welcome.
Summary of Peace Education Initiatives
Formal Overview
The Wholistic Peace Institute has been dedicated to promoting peace education since 2001, beginning with the Dalai Lama Youth Summit. The Institute annually presents the Spirit of Unity Award to recognize outstanding peace, human rights, and conflict resolution initiatives by student groups in Oregon's schools and community colleges. Recipients are honored at a ceremony featuring Nobel Peace Laureates, highlighting the significance of their contributions.
The Institute supports student projects addressing non-violent justice, leadership models based on Nobel Peace Laureates, conflict resolution, civil and human rights, school safety, and social justice. The Harold Schnitzer Spirit of Unity Awards, supported by the Schnitzer family, have been awarded for seventeen consecutive years, fostering a culture of peace and ongoing student engagement in these areas. Previous award-winning projects have included efforts in human trafficking prevention, climate action, peer mediation, and humanitarian service. The Institute welcomes innovative initiatives that promote mental health, diversity, and inclusion.
Our Nobel Peace Laureate Partners:
- President Kim Dae-jung (2000)
- President Lech Wałęsa (1983)
- President Óscar Arias Sánchez (1987)
- President F. W. de Klerk (1993)
- President Jimmy Carter (2002)
- The 14th Dalai Lama (1989)
- Al Gore (2007)
- Betty Williams (1976)
- Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (1980)
- Jody Williams (1997)
- Amnesty International (1977)
- Physicians for Social Responsibility (1985)
- European Union (2012)
